AACEInternationalRecommendedPracticeNo.

37R06

SCHEDULELEVELSOFDETAIL
ASAPPLIEDINENGINEERING,PROCUREMENTANDCONSTRUCTION
TCMFramework:7.2SchedulePlanningandDevelopment

Rev.March20,2010
Note:AsAACEInternationalRecommendedPracticesevolveovertime,pleaserefertowww.aacei.orgforthelatestrevisions.

Contributors:
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors and contributors to this recommended practice are their own
anddonotnecessarilyreflectthoseoftheiremployers,unlessotherwisestated.

EdwardE.Douglas,IIICCCPSP(Author) MichaelR.Nosbisch,CCCPSP
ChristopherW.Carson,PSP AnthoniusPramudhito
RicardoGarciadaRoza ArashRanjbaran,PSP
PaulE.Harris,CCE Dr.RandyR.Rapp,PECCE
JohnK.Hollmann,PECCECEP H.LanceStephenson,CCC
DonaldF.McDonald,Jr.PECCEPSP RonaldM.Winter,PSP
StephenE.Mueller,CCCEVP

CopyrightAACEInternational AACEInternationalRecommendedPractices
AACEInternationalRecommendedPracticeNo.37R06
SCHEDULELEVELSOFDETAIL ASAPPLIEDIN
ENGINEERING,PROCUREMENTANDCONSTRUCTION
TCMFramework: 7.2SchedulePlanningandDevelopment

March20,2010

PURPOSE

Thisrecommendedpractice(RP)isintendedtoserveasaguideline,notastandardforownersandcontractorsto
establishacommonframeofreferenceandunderstandingwhendescribingthelevelofdetailforanyconstruction
project schedule. This RP identifies four schedule formats based on level of detail, and provides descriptions of
schedulelevelsandtheintendeduseoftheseschedulesbyprojectparticipants.

Thisrecommendedpracticeprovidesdescriptionsoftheschedulelevelsmethodswiththeintenttoimprovethe
understandingandcommunicationamongprojectparticipantsandstakeholdersinvolvedwithpreparingandusing
projectschedules.Thisrecommendedpractice(RP)describestheschedulelevelmethodsthatareprevalentinthe
constructionindustrytodayforreportingandcommunicatingprojectscheduleplans,resultsandforecastorto
go data to respective stakeholders. This RP excludes turnaround projects, and does not necessarily apply to
lineofbalanceorlinearschedulingapplications.

INTRODUCTION

Projectparticipantsfrequentlymisunderstandthedefinitionofschedulelevels,whichlimitsthequalityandvalue
oftheinformationprovidedtothestakeholdersandprojectparticipants.Usuallythereismorethanonelevelof
schedule detail required and reported. Project participants and stakeholders require different types of data and
levelsofdetailrelativetotheirscheduleusage.

Theprojectownerorclientismostlikelytobeinterestedinmilestonesandfacility/featurestartandcompletion
datesatahigherorsummarylevel.Contractorswouldmonitorandcontroltheirsubcontractorsatanintermediate
level and control their direct hire project efforts at a much greater level of detail. Subcontractors and vendors
would typically monitor and control their own work at a task list level, even though they will be required to
interfacewithothersubcontractorsorvendorsandreporttotheconstructionmanagerorprimecontractorata
higher level. Ultimately, the project contract documents, terms and conditions will determine the format and
contentoftheprojectorprogramschedulelevels.

Manyschedulingspecificationsintheconstructionindustrydiscussschedulelevelswhenreferringtothevolume
of activity detail displayed in the project schedule, while other schedule requirements are defined with a
descriptive title (e.g. summary vs. control schedules). The large engineering, procure and construct (EPC)
contractors have developed systems within their organizations to describe levels of detail for their typical
constructionprojectschedules.Reportingrequirementsforschedulelevelsareroutinelyestablishedintheproject
planning phase and ultimately incorporated into contract specifications using one of the generally accepted
methodologies.Thereareavarietyofacceptedmethodstodescribeoridentifythelevelsofscheduledetails.This
RPaddressesandcomparesthreegenerallyacceptablemethods:

1. NumericScheduleLevels,
2. Engineering,Procurement,Construction(EPC)ScheduleLevels,and
3. DescriptiveMethodology.

The mixed use of the schedule levels methods often results in misunderstandings due to the inconsistent
numbering systems or confusion regarding the descriptive terms. For example, a summary schedule and a
master schedule are not the same thing. A master schedule is a consolidated schedule that incorporates
multiple, related projects or parts of a project so that they can be monitored and controlled as a unit. This
promptedtheneedtoclarifythesimilaritiesandthedistinctivecharacteristicsoftheseschedulelevelsmethods.

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37R06:ScheduleLevelsofDetailAsAppliedinEngineering,ProcurementandConstruction 2 of7

March 20,2010

NUMERICSCHEDULELEVELS

Traditionally the schedule levels have been identified by a numeric designator such as the method described in
Jelens[5]andbytheConstructionIndustryInstitute(CII)[4].Thisnumericmethodisrelatedtothedevelopmentof
projectorprogramapproachesthathavebeendocumentedwithintheconstructionindustry.Thisnumericbased
approachoftencorrelatesthescheduleleveltotheprojectsworkbreakdownstructure(WBS)buthasnotalways
been entirely consistent with the WBS. Both Jelen's Cost and Optimization Engineering[5] and the Construction
Industry Institutes (CIIs) Publication 65, Project Control for Construction[4] endorse the method that describes
thesenumericschedulelevels:

Level 0: This is the total project and in effect is a single bar spanning the project time from start to finish.
Functionallythereisverylittlepracticalapplicationforaschedulethatisonlyasinglebarotherthantorepresent
anelementofaprojectorprogramtimeline.Levelzeroschedulesnormallywillincludetheprojectorprogram
majormilestonesandbarsindicatingkeyscope.

Level 1: This represents the schedule for the project by its major components. For example, a schedule for a
processplantmaybedividedintoprocessarea,storageandhandlingarea,services,siteareas,andutilities.ALevel
1scheduleisnormallydisplayedasaGanttorbarchartandmayincludekeymilestones.

Todifferentiatebetweenprogramandprojectschedules:aLevel1ofaprogramschedule,forexample,wouldbea
combination of Level 0 schedules for each component project This would give program schedules at least one
morelevelthanthemostdetailedprojectschedulethatconstitutestheoverallprogram.

Level 2: Each schedule component is further subdivided for Level 2. For example, utility systems are further
subdivided into water, electrical,gas, storm drainage and sanitary systems, etc. In most cases Level 2 schedules
can only be shown as a bar chart although key constraints may also be displayed. Milestones are normally
included.

Level3:ThefirstlevelthatameaningfulcriticalpathnetworkcanbedisplayedandtheCPMschedulecanbeused
to monitor and manage (control) the overall project work. Level 3 is agood level forthe overall projectcontrol
schedulesinceitisneithertoosummarizednortoodetailed.

Levels 4X: The level of schedule subdivision continues to whatever is appropriate detail for the user. When
operating at more detailed levels, the planners generally work with segments of the total schedule. Often the
project rolling schedule includes a lookahead period of time (30180 days) and a lookback at recent
completedworkperiods.

SCHEDULELEVELSREQUIREMENTS

The various participants in a construction contract all have different requirements and levels of interest in the
projectschedule.Theownerandthecontractorshomeofficeareinterestedinsummarylevelscheduleswithkey
milestones. Projectlevel personnel are interested in more detail. Thus there are the various schedule levels
requirements. There is no universal agreement as to the number of schedule levels and their format. Schedule
levelsdescriptivemethodscorrelatethecommunicatingandreportingrelationshipstotheirrespectiveaudiences
whichallowstheusertounderstandtheamountofinformationdesiredforeachlevel,suchasprojectworkarea,
workgroups,workpackagesandactivity/resourceelements.Thefollowingprovidefurtherclarification:

Schedule levels are determined by the detail required of the key project stakeholders. Since schedules are
developedforthepurposesofperformingthatspecificphaseofthework,allschedulesthereforeshouldroll
upfrommoredetailedscopeoftheactivitiesandtasks.

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